6 Ways to Attract More Cardinals

For a backyard full of cardinals and their mates, grow plants they love to eat and shrubs to shelter their families.

By Heather Lamb

photo credit: Noelle Sippel (B&B reader)

Setting out a bird feeder filled with black oil sunflower seeds is a surefire way to attract northern cardinals—but ambitious gardeners shouldn’t stop there, because the right plants bring in these ruby red beauties and other songbirds, too. The key is to focus on the trifecta of providing food, cover and places to raise young, says Gary Ritchison, an ornithologist at Eastern Kentucky University and writer of the bird guide Northern Cardinal. A deep dive into the life of cardinals unveils clues to help you attract the ubiquitous backyard birds.

1. Seeds

The shape and structure of a cardinal’s bill reveals the birds’ food preference. The downward curve, typical of seed-eating birds, allows them to crack open or crush seeds. Cardinals also have larger jaw muscles than many other songbirds, which means they can consume bigger seeds. When selecting plants, look for some with medium-sized seeds as well as a mixture of seasonality. (Read more: 3 Types of Seeds Birds Love Best)

2. Berries

Although seeds are a favorite food, cardinals eat a lot of wild fruits. As nonmigratory birds, they seek a variety of foods as availability changes throughout the year. “They’re pretty adaptive,” Gary says. “They have to be, as a resident bird.” But as they consume fruits, studies suggest, cardinals still are after the seeds, often discarding much of the fruit pulp. For that reason, fruits with larger seeds may be more attractive. Also look for a range of fruiting times and, since cardinals forage low to the ground, shorter varieties. (How to: Attract Backyard Birds with Berries)

3. Red-Fruited Plants

The vivid crimson color of male cardinals comes from carotenoid pigments, which are found in red fruits. Eating more of these scarlet-hued snacks, especially during molt, helps a male form brighter red feathers. The flashy color boosts his ability to successfully attract mates and defend a pair’s nesting territory. (Get more info on Attracting Cardinals to Your Backyard)

4. Cover Plants

For cardinal nests, concealment is key: The showy birds look for the camouflage of dense shrubs and trees. Compared to other birds, their nests are low, only 4 to 8 off the ground. Cardinals are territorial during breeding and the male stays near the nest, so to see cardinals year-round,host a nesting pair. For their first nests in April or May, cardinals often choose the protection of evergreens. Pairs raise several broods a year and select different sites, so a mix of small, dense trees and shrubs is ideal. Wild grape is a good addition, too, because cardinals use its bark for nesting material. (Check out: Northern Cardinal species profile)

5. Caterpillars

Parent cardinals feed their young almost exclusively with insects, which provide the protein that nestlings need to grow muscle. When very young, the babies eat soft-bodied insects such as caterpillars. Planting additional beds of butterfly host plants is a good way to help stock the pantry for the weary parents. For much of the year, 75 percent of the food that cardinals eat is plant material, but at the height of summer breeding season, the majority of their diet is insects. (Read more: 11 Must-Have Host Plants for Butterflies)

6. Evergreens

Often foraging on open ground, cardinals need to retreat quickly to safety. In summer, they use the same shrubs that provide nesting sites, but in winter, they escape to evergreens. During cold weather, cardinals form flocks that move around in search of food. So yards with plentiful food and cover have the best chance of hosting that picture-perfect vision of red dotting a snow-covered tree. (Check out: Top 10 Dwarf Conifers)

Starlings cannot crack sunflower and other hard seeds. Black oil sunflower seed is the favorite seed of most of the birds that you want to attract. So if you put out the black oil sunflower seed, mixed with some safflower seed, the cardinals and other birds will like it, but the starlings don’t. Don’t put out mixed seed or seed with corn on it, and they won’t eat it.

Probably for the same reason that Juncos do. They come at nearly the same time. 1st at the feeders in the morning and the last at the feeders before dark..
Seriously though, I’ve wondered the same thing myself. Maybe they don’t like crowds.

Yes, they come at dawn and dusk, but do show up at other times of the day. I put scrambled egg out on a tray when the birds are nesting, and a cardinal male joins in and brings pieces back to his young. That surprised me, but he comes every day and takes it and carries it off.

When we first moved here,four years ago, we had two cardinal pairs in our backyard. After adding more nesting sites, growing dogwood and raspberries,and providing black oil sunflower seeds – we have none. Now we are inundated with yellow and purple finches, which are lovely, but I miss our cardinals. What happened?